Over the past century, Kartini has been mythologised, misused and misread. Dr Joost Coté, a researcher and adviser on the recent film bearing her name, writes that despite her status as a national feminist icon, there is actually little factual historical information about Kartini.

Following Kartini Day, on 21 April, Talking Indonesia looks at the state of the women’s movement in Indonesia. Dr Jemma Purdey speaks to Dr Intan Paramaditha about why sexuality and the female body continue to be sites for contestation and national anxiety, and how the movement is responding to the “conservative turn” in mainstream Islam.